A Tangled Web 3: The Saga Begins
by Wtiger5
Summary: This is the third multi-chapter installment of my Tangled Web Universe. Beginning after the Thanksgiving one-shot posted on this site, it picks up where the show actually begins, while still remaining in my alternate universe timeline. The entire team will be involved at some point although I won't do every episode and most likely not all of the episodes I will address.
1. Extreme Aggressor

_A/N: This is the third full length series in my A Tangled Web universe. This is where we actually get into the show. I'm not going to do every episode and I'm not going to tell the whole story every time. Anything that is either a direct quote or very close to lines spoken in the episode are going to be underlined. I'm finally done with grad school and everything that goes with it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the Boston one shot and the Thanksgiving one shot. As always, I couldn't have done this without my amazing Beta **Charmony**. Truth be told she rewrote at least half of this. And now without any further ado: A Tangled Wed 3: The Saga Begins._

_I don't 'em. I've just borrowed them to play with for awhile and I will return them, albeit slightly used._

Spencer sighed as he slowly headed down the hall to his father's classroom. Six months had passed since that fateful day in Boston and while Gideon was much better, the young man wondered if he would ever truly be healed. He paused in the doorway and caught his father's eye, tapping the folder he held in his hand. Gideon stopped teaching, raising an eyebrow at his son in a silent question. Spencer nodded in answer before turning away. He waited outside in the hallway until his father caught up with him.

"It must be bad if they sent you to get me."

"Four women found murdered in four months. Each one was missing for a week before being killed. Now a fifth one has been taken and we don't have much time."

Gideon glanced sideways at his son. "Hotch knows you came over here?"

A faint smile touched Spencer's mouth. "He's the one who sent me. Said it was better me than a couple of suits. He and Morgan are at the office waiting for us."

A short time later, the quartet gathered around the evidence board looking at the crime scenes and the pictures of the four women.

"They want you in the field with us," Hotch said as he shot a sideways glance at Gideon.

* * *

><p>Spencer stood at the back of the room watching not only the agents from the field office, but also his father. He knew that even though Gideon had found some measure of healing and comfort in stepping away from the field, his confidence had been severely shaken. Even now it wasn't back up to where it had been before the bombing. He closed his eyes, dreading the thought of what would happen if they didn't find the missing woman. Shaking away his morose thoughts, he turned his attention to the dry erase board and the maps posted on the wall.<p>

As Hotch continued to speak at the front of the room about what little they knew, his gaze wandered to a dark haired agent in the back who was watching both Morgan and Hotch with an expectant and almost defiant look. He'd heard her name mentioned briefly. Greenaway, one of the Seattle based agents had called her. His mouth twitched into a brief smile. _"She wants to join the BAU,"_ he thought to himself as his attention was pulled back to the conversation at hand.

"When do we sit down with your task force?"

"Four o'clock this afternoon."

"That doesn't give us a lot of time to come up with an accurate profile," Morgan said as he stared at the agents.

"Well Heather Woodland doesn't have very much time either."

Spencer glanced back over his shoulder. He recognized the steely determination in his father's voice and stance, but he also knew that accuracy was the key to finding the right person and giving the right profile. He vaguely noted Hotch asking his dad where he wanted to start and Gideon's reply of the last murder scene.

* * *

><p>Spencer froze as he stared at the barking dog. Despite several attempts by his parents both as a child and as a teen, he still disliked dogs on a basic level. Especially ones that barked incessantly, which seemed to happen around him quite frequently.<p>

"Sorry, Sandy's not usually like this," David said as he pulled his sister's dog away from the young agent.

"It's okay. We call it the 'Reid effect'," Hotch remarked dryly. "If it wasn't for his younger siblings, I'd be worried it would happen with kids too."

"You look too young to have gone to medical school."

"They're PhD's. Three of them actually."

"What, are you a genius or something?"

"I don't actually believe that intelligence can be quantified. I do have an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory and can read 20,000 words per minute." Spencer paused as he realized that David was staring at him with a wide-eyed expression of disbelief and Hotch was attempting to contain his smile. "Yes, I'm a genius." He swallowed hard and felt relieved when David's gaze shifted to Hotch. Studying his surroundings, he looked for any clues that might explain how Heather had met their unsub. His gaze landed on a stack of car magazines that while not unheard of for a woman to read, were certainly unusual. He picked up the top issue and squinted at the picture as a thought crossed his mind.

"Is your sister in the market for a Datsun Z?"

"Yeah, how did you know that?" David asked as he took Sandy into the kitchen. Hotch came to Spencer's side.

"He got her trust by posing as a seller and then took her for a test drive. There's an instant relationship that implies trust between a buyer and seller. That's how he caught her," Spencer said holding up the magazine.

"We need to get back to the office."

* * *

><p>Morgan was comparing and contrasting parts of the evidence as Gideon started at the map of Seattle and the surrounding area in front of him. His agents' voices faded into the background as he attempted to make sense of what they knew. As pieces of the puzzle started settling into place, he interrupted Morgan's monologue.<p>

"_Alright enough. _Hotch tell them we're ready_."_

Morgan's mouth dropped open in shock. "We're ready?" he repeated incredulously. His gaze swung back and forth from Gideon's departing figure to Hotch's calm face. Finally his eyes turned to Spencer. "Reid? Are you good with this? We got a woman who's only got a few hours left to live, an incomplete profile, and your dad is about to have a nervous breakdown."

"They don't call them nervous breakdowns anymore," Spencer and Gideon, who had slipped back in the room unnoticed by Morgan, replied in unison.

"It's a major depressive episode," Spencer added as Gideon left again.

"Yeah, I know that Reid." Morgan sighed as he looked at his younger colleague. He couldn't help but wonder if Gideon was flying off the handle because he was desperate to prove something to himself and to the team. Not to mention the rumors about the director being unsure of Gideon's place in the field. He realized Spencer had gone back to scribbling something while completely ignoring what he had said. "You _are_ worried," he said as he put a hand on Spencer's shoulder.

"He's better, but he's not completely healed. He still blames himself, even after talking to my mom, my uncle and the psychologist. He's pushing because he's afraid people will see him as weak after what happened."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Reid!"

"Yes, but not everyone makes a mistake that gets six agents and a hostage killed. And yes, before you ask, Dad knows that. But it hasn't stopped him from taking all of this very personally." Spencer read the flash of guilt in Morgan's dark eyes and instinctively knew what he was thinking. "Don't think that. You needed to be with your mom more than you needed to be with us. You didn't do anything wrong."

Morgan frowned, then sighed. "I know. I just feel guilty, like I should have been able to do something to maybe have prevented the bomb from going off. I _was_ in the bomb squad for heaven's sake."

Spencer stood up. "I know. And I know that's why you feel guilty for not being with us, but the past is the past and you can't change it no matter how much you want to. All you can do is move forward." He sighed softly, tossing his pencil onto the desk. "We'd better get out there. Dad will never forgive us for not being there when he gives the profile."

* * *

><p>Spencer watched his father deliver the profile from the back of the room, while Morgan stood beside him and Hotch leaned against the wall, arms folded over his chest. Everyone seemed to be listening intently, with some taking notes. However, something was nagging in the back of his mind that kept him from focusing completely on his father's words. The pieces didn't all fit together quite right. He just couldn't put his finger on it.<p>

"Sir? I think I may have someone who fits the profile. His name is Richard Slessman."

Gideon spun toward the young woman that Spencer had noticed when they first arrived. "What else you got Greenaway?"

He watched her take a deep breath. "I think I know a way to get him out in the open."

* * *

><p>Shortly after Elle successfully removed Richard Slessman from his home without violence or bloodshed, Morgan stepped into an upstairs bedroom with a frown. <span>"This is a little boy's room.<span>" He spun around slowly in bewilderment. "We're missing something."

Elle came up the steps. "There's no sign of Heather Woodland. I don't think she was ever here." She paused as she came to Morgan's side. "So what do I need to do to get that position at the BAU?"

"Trust your instincts," Morgan replied. He turned as one of the local agents called his name. "What do you have?"

"We found his computer and his password."

Morgan froze as one of the agents typed in the password written on a note below the computer. "No wait, don't do that!" He grimaced as the entire computer shut down. "It's a dummy password."

"What does that mean?" the officer asked.

"It means when it comes back on we're going to have a hard time trying to get back into the system." He took a deep breath as the screen came back on. "Ok let's see what we have."

Elle leaned closer. "What is that number six at the bottom of the screen?"

Morgan shook his head. "The number of tries we have to break the password before the software automatically wipes the hard drive and everything on it."

"But there could be something that leads us to Heather on there? Can't you break the code?"

The dark skinned agent raised an eyebrow at Elle. "In six tries?"

"Try again. Fail again. Fail better."

Spencer spoke up as everyone stared at his dad. "Samuel Beckett."

Morgan rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Try not. Do or do not," he retorted quickly before turning back to the screen. He bit back the chuckle that bubbled up at Spencer's next statement.

"Yoda," the young agent stated.

Gideon made a face as he finally placed the quote. He couldn't believe that he had missed a famous quote from one of his eldest son's favorite movie universes. He spun away from Spencer and studied the books on the shelf behind him. He abruptly pulled a book from the stack with a sinking feeling as he stared at the cover. Flipping through it, a second feeling of dread washed over him as he found a copy of the front page article that detailed the bombing in Boston.

"I want to talk to him."

* * *

><p>Gideon hurried outside, feeling grateful as the cool air washed over him, helping to clear his head and calm his nerves after his conversation with Slessman. The bile still rose in his throat as memories of that day in Boston threatened to break through his control. He didn't even realize that Hotch had followed him until the other man spoke.<p>

"Hey."

"He said 'isn't she the girl?' If she was dead, he would have said…"

"Wasn't she the girl?" Hotch finished the sentence.

"She's alive somewhere."

Hotch took a deep breath hoping to lead into his next question. "Was Slessman right about CPR?"

Gideon snorted. "If you really want the statistics of CPR go find my son. If you think I can't do this job then just come right out and say so."

"It's not that I don't think you can do this job. I know you can. I just don't know if you're okay because I also know you can't be two people at the same time."

Gideon looked away as Hotch's words hit close to home. Then all of a sudden the missing puzzle piece fell into place and he couldn't help but smile.

A look of confusion crossed Hotch's face. "What? What did I say? What is it?"

"An explanation for the conflicts in the profile."

Hotch caught his breath as Gideon's words sunk in. "Two different behaviors and two different people. Slessman has a partner."

Gideon nodded. "There's a second killer."

* * *

><p><span>"You've reached Penelope Garcia and the FBI's office of supreme genius."<span> Garcia tapped on her keyboard as she answered the phone. She waited to hear what sort of witty response Morgan would answer with.

"I need you to work me some magic here." Morgan didn't bother with the light hearted banter. There was too much at stake for the usual give and take. "This software is called Deadbolt defense and our missing girl's only got a couple hours left. What can you tell me?"

"Then you got a problem." Garcia hated to be the bearer of bad tidings but she knew Morgan needed to know the truth. "Deadbolt is the cream of the crop when it comes to encryption. You won't break it unless you can either get in this guy's head and pluck out the password or convince him to tell you what it is."

"I thought I was calling the office of supreme genius."

"Well gorgeous, you've been rerouted to the office of too freakin' bad." Garcia smiled even though Morgan couldn't see it. "I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do."

"Thanks anyway." Morgan couldn't be angry with the bubbly tech analyst. It wasn't her fault that Slessman had top of the line equipment. He sighed as he stared at the screen, wondering just how far into this guy's head he had to get in order to break the code.

* * *

><p>Gideon and Elle watched as Hotch talked to Slessman's grandmother. They both felt sorry for the frail lady as she thought about Hotch's questions. With the oxygen tank close by and her hands shaking, the little lady was the picture of sadness.<p>

"Charles Linder was Slessman's cellmate. He was dishonorably discharged from the military so he could have been the one protecting Slessman." Elle grinned triumphantly at Gideon. "And the prison where they were incarcerated is less than a mile away."

"Let's go," Gideon replied as he spun around and headed for the door. Maybe they were finally making some headway.

* * *

><p>Morgan rummaged through Slessman's room and bathroom trying to find anything that would help him figure out the password. He'd already tried a couple of things, the more obvious ones, but predictably all that had done was drop him to four attempts. As a bottle of pills caught his eye, he realized that Slessman was an insomniac. He began to study the bedroom in a new light trying to determine what made the young man tick. As the musical link became clear, he called for the other agents processing the house to come help him go through Slessman's extensive CD collection.<p>

Hotch hurried toward Reid as he stood waiting by the fax machine. "Did you get Linder's address?"

"It's coming through now," Reid absentmindedly answered. He looked up at Hotch as he went by. "Why is the director wanting a field assessment on Gideon?" He avoided using the word 'dad' as they were in the middle of a bustling FBI field office.

Hotch sighed as he turned back to the young doctor. "Don't worry about your father Reid. It's just protocol."

"Well are they nervous about him being in charge?" Spencer pressed the issue, even though he was fairly certain Hotch wasn't going to answer the question.

"Aren't you on your way back to Slessman's house to help Morgan?" Hotch countered quickly. He didn't want to have his agent worrying about anything other than the missing girl. He knew he had to keep Spencer on track rather than focusing on his father and his placement with the BAU. He turned away hoping that the move would end the conversation. However, he once again misjudged Spencer's determination for answers and his thirst for understanding.

"Do you know why he always introduces me as Dr. Reid?"

Hotch sighed again as he faced Spencer. "It's because he wants people to respect you and he knows that they see you as a kid rather than a capable agent. He's protecting you as best as he can without being obvious about it. Trust me, he'd love to be able to introduce you as his son but he's afraid it would be counterproductive for you and keep you from being able to do your job." He looked down at the piece of paper in Spencer's hand, hopeful that the move would finally end this line of questioning. "What's the address?"

Spencer quickly read over the words and a certain fact stood out to him. "I don't think it matters anymore."

* * *

><p>Elle hung up the phone as the guard left Gideon's side. "We've got a problem. Hotch just called and said that Linder is dead. Happened two months ago in a car crash. There's no way he could be Slessman's partner. We just lost our best lead to finding Heather."<p>

Gideon shook his head. "There's got to be something somewhere that we're missing. The guard is getting one of the other guards who knew Slessman and Linder. His name is Timothy Vogel. Let's see what he has to say."

An hour later, Gideon and Elle sat in the car waiting to see if their hunch was right. Gideon watched the young woman who wasn't much older than his son. He was impressed by what he had seen so far, noting that Elle had a sharp mind and keen eye for detail. She wasn't a full-fledged profiler but she was obviously interested and willing to learn.

His thoughts on Elle were interrupted as Vogel's Datsun pulled around the corner and took off down the road away from the prison. Elle pulled out and followed at a safe distance while Gideon called Hotch.

"Your leverage has a name; Timothy Vogel. We're following him now."

* * *

><p>Spencer sat cross legged on Slessman's bed, CD's and empty cases scattered around him. He spun a disk between his fingers as he tried to figure out how to break Slessman's password. He looked around at the mess on the floor and almost fell over as the answer came to him. It was so obvious, he couldn't believe it had taken him this long to think of it. Grabbing a particular case, he jumped off the bed and headed for the attic. Along the way, he grabbed a paper clip, straightening it as he went. He could hear Morgan muttering to himself in frustration as he entered the room.<p>

"I've been thinking about the CD's."

"We tried that Reid. We've searched and sorted through Slessman's entire collection of heavy metal CD's. There's nothing there."

"Unless we have overlooked the obvious," Spencer answered as he carefully inserted the paperclip into the side of the computer. A thrill of relief went through him as the drive popped open and revealed its secret.

"How did you figure that one out?" Morgan asked in amazement.

"It was the only empty case," Spencer replied simply as he handed the case to Morgan.

"It's Metallica. What in the world could Metallica say that would make me go to sleep?"

"Enter Sandman," Spencer replied as he studied the back of the CD case in Morgan's hand.

Morgan stared at the younger agent. The kid's observations never ceased to amaze him and the answer was so obvious that it had been staring them in the face the entire time. "Enter Sandman, of course!" He typed in the words, praying that they were right and not merely wasting another guess. "If this doesn't work kid, I don't know what to try next."

"It'll work," Spencer answered with assurance. "It has to," he muttered more quietly.

"No kidding," Morgan muttered back as he hit enter. The computer paused for a moment then to both men's amazement and relief, began to boot up. "Oh my G**!" Morgan gasped as a program automatically started. "Gideon was right. Heather is alive." He grabbed the phone, dialing as he moved. "Gideon! Heather is alive. Reid and I are watching her right now. But we can't tell where she is."

"I'll call Hotch and let him know, but we lost Vogel so you two need to find me something we can use."

Morgan glanced up at Spencer. "We have to figure out where she is. She doesn't have much time. Your dad said they lost Vogel so he's probably heading to this location right now."

Spencer nodded and began to pace, closing his eyes to think. As a thought came to him, he spun and crouched by Morgan's side.

"Can you show me the last twelve images lined up next to each other?"

"Yeah." Morgan made a few quick keystrokes, wondering just what was going through his colleague's mind. As the pictures appeared on the screen, Spencer leaned forward with a look of intense concentration on his face.

"The light is changing positions. It's moving or swaying from side to side. Almost as if the earth is tilting back and forth."

"Not the earth doc, the ocean." Morgan and Spencer's gazes met.

"She's on a boat." Spencer said quickly.

"And that boat has to be near the shore because the signal wouldn't transmit from the middle of the ocean."

Spencer continued watching the screen as Morgan paced away from the laptop. Long minutes passed in silence until between one frame and the next, the younger agent noticed the situation was getting worse for their victim.

"Morgan, he's inside. He's in the frame of the picture," Spencer said anxiously as Morgan joined him at the computer.

"Get Elle on the phone," Morgan barked back at him. The doctor hurried to dial the number before tossing the phone to the older agent.

"Hotch got the location from Slessman. Gideon and I are at the shipyard now. We're going in," Elle responded after Morgan explained the reason for his call.

"You need to wait for backup," Morgan said firmly as he headed for the stairs.

"If we wait for backup, that girl is dead," Elle replied steadily.

"And if we had waited in Boston…"

Elle cut him off. "I can't. You told me to trust my instincts. I'm going in. We'll be fine."

Morgan hung up and increased his pace. "Come on kid, we gotta get down there."

Spencer hurried after his friend as he prayed his dad would be ok. He was terrified of what would happen if Gideon was too late to save Heather. His father would be absolutely destroyed if the worst were to happen, and he couldn't bear the thought of losing a second father. They jumped into the car with Morgan at the wheel as they raced toward the shipyard, both men hoping they would get there in time. Suddenly the silence was broken by the sharp crackle of the radio.

"We need medics. Two injured and one casualty."

Spencer bit his lip. "That was Elle's voice."

"Yeah," Morgan replied in a near whisper. He pressed down on the accelerator, urging the car to get to their destination in record time. As they drew closer, they could see the flashing red lights of the ambulance and the blue lights of the squad cars. "There's Hotch."

"And Dad's sitting on the back of the ambulance," Spencer gasped. He was out of the car almost before it stopped. "Da….Gideon!" He quickly corrected himself. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Spencer."

"He dared Vogel to shoot him. Then he insulted him until he did," Hotch said wryly. He nodded to Gideon and brushed Spencer's shoulder before walking away to give them a moment of privacy.

"You're not supposed to get shot by the unsub, let alone dare him to shoot you," Spencer pointed out the obvious.

Gideon chuckled. "Yeah I know, but it worked. Besides I'd rather him shoot me than our kidnap victim." He stood up to pull his son into an embrace. "It's just a scratch."

"Maybe so, but I'm still letting _you_ tell Mom that you dared the unsub to shoot you."

* * *

><p>Gideon looked up as Hotch sat down beside him. <span>"You and Haley pick the baby's name yet?"<span>

Hotch chuckled before recounting all of the names that reminded him of serial killers, with Gideon answering with the last names as if he were reading Hotch's mind.

"There's just too many of them."

"It's hard to feel good about catching one of them when you know there's fifty more still out there."

The two men sat in silence for a moment before Gideon asked innocently, "How's your report coming?"

Hotch chuckled sheepishly and scratched his head, wondering not for the first time why he thought he could put anything past his friend and mentor.

"You didn't think you could hide that from an old profiler now did ya?" Gideon asked with an exaggerated drawl and an easy wink, letting Hotch know he wasn't mad.

"You know you saved that girl today. You can feel good about that." Hotch chose his words carefully. "I'm going to tell them that I think you're still a good field agent and that it would be a mistake to not let you come back to the unit full time. I don't know if they will let you come back as the unit chief or not but I'm willing to step aside if they want me to."

Gideon shook his head. "No. You earned unit chief. I'm not going to take that away from you. Besides, I kind of like having someone else in charge, taking responsibility. And you're right. What we did today was a good thing. It's nice to have that happy ending every once in a while."

"At least until you get home and your wife finds out how you managed to get shot on your first case back." Hotch patted Gideon on the shoulder. "I don't think I want to be in your shoes on that one."

"Yes, well I think my son wants to be a fly on the wall for that conversation," Gideon answered dryly.

Hotch laughed. "I bet he does." They both glanced over at the two agents asleep at the other end of the plane. "Welcome back Jason. It's good to have you back with us where you belong."


	2. LDSK

_A/N: So I goofed in Thanksgiving at the Gideon's. Thandie is three going on four in that story and I had originally published it as four going on five. I apologize and I have now corrected that mistake. This chapter is going back to the way I normally write chapters rather than the presentation of a case that I did with chapter 1. I felt I had to do the first case of the series even though I didn't make a lot of changes. **Sailor Pandabear:** Thanks. **Tooker86:** I'm glad you're enjoying it. **LaRieNGuBleR:** I'm glad to be back. I've missed being able to write (and read) for pleasure rather than school. **Daisyangel:** Do I have you intrigued? You'll have to keep reading in order to see what I have up my sleeve. **Charmony**: Bless you. That chapter was a bear to get through and you did an amazing editing job._

_As in chapter 1, underlined sentences are quotes from the episode itself. It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and as I don't own Criminal Minds, this is my imagination. Beta read by Charmony _

_"Front sight, controlled trigger press, follow through_," Spencer thought to himself, mentally chanting the mantra that Hotch had been telling him for the last week.

"Shooter on the line!" The instructor's call echoed through the morning air. Spencer stepped to the line, trying to calm his nerves and steady his hands.

"Draw your weapon and begin when you are ready."

* * *

><p>Sarah laughed softly as she watched her four year old daughter singing in the backseat of the car. Thandie bounced with the music as much as the restraints of the booster seat would let her and the child's joy oozed out of her every waking moment<p>

The ringing of her cell phone interrupted the cheerful atmosphere and she put the call on speaker so that she could keep her hands on the wheel.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mom," Spencer's voice sounded softer than usual, making Sarah instantly alert.

"Hey, how did the test go?" Sarah asked with a suspicion of the answer.

A rueful chuckle sounded. "I failed. Even with Hotch tutoring me, I failed. I had to surrender my weapon."

"Oh, sweetie." Sarah wanted to pull her son into hug through the call as she heard the dejection in his voice. "Have you talked to your dad yet?"

"Yeah, the instructor called him and then he called me. He said he doesn't care if I'm carrying or not and that he's still proud of me. He also reminded me I can test again in two weeks.

"Gotcha." Sarah glanced in the rearview mirror again as sudden inspiration hit. "What time do you have to go back to the office?"

"1:30."

"Ok, so you've got a couple hours. I'm just about to pick up Ezra from school due to a teacher workday. I'll swing by and pick you up and you can come eat lunch with me and your siblings. How does that sound?"

She could practically hear Spencer's grin of happiness from the car.

* * *

><p>Sarah smiled as she watched her oldest pushing the youngsters on the swings; first the one and then the other. Deciding to forgo the stuffiness of a restaurant, they had picked up sandwiches from a local deli and headed for the park. She hoped the sunshine and light breeze would help Spencer feel better.<p>

"I want to go higher!" Ezra shouted with glee as Spencer gave Thandie a push to keep her swinging.

"Higher," echoed Thandie as she swung up toward the blue sky.

Spencer obliged, pushing each child higher to their delighted laugher.

"Come on Spencer, make me go higher than Thandie! I want to fly!"

"No! Make _me_ go higher Spencer!"

Suddenly it was a competition between the two young children that made the adults laugh.

All too soon though, the time came for him to head to work and the laughter faded away. Piggy backing his sister and jogging beside his brother to where she was sitting, Sarah could see that Spencer wished he didn't have to leave. It was obvious that he was dreading the good-natured teasing he would get from his colleagues, most likely Morgan if she didn't miss her guess.

"Spencer, you can't be sad," Thandie said, somehow sensing his mood shift. "Makes me sad too."

"I'm sorry, pretty girl. I just had something sad happen this morning." Spencer said as he set her on her feet.

"What happened Spencer?" Ezra asked anxiously.

Spencer gently ruffled his hair. "Nothing that you need to worry about little brother."

Ezra frowned but dropped the subject as Spencer set their sister on her feet.

Thandie wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed as hard as she could. "I make you feel all better."

Spencer smiled sadly at his sister. "Thanks Thandie."

* * *

><p>Morgan leaned back in his chair, nonchalantly waiting for the team's resident genius. Elle and Hotch had warned him about teasing Spencer about failing his gun qualification, but he couldn't help but do exactly that. He fingered the whistle he held as he watched for the doctor's arrival.<p>

"Hey kid, I got a tip for you," he said, scrambling to his feet as Spencer appeared. "Blow really hard," he said as he dropped the whistle in his young teammate's hand. Spencer rolled his eyes and gave Morgan a dirty look.

"Thanks."

"I need everyone to the conference room. We've got a case," Hotch interrupted his agents before the joke could go any further.

* * *

><p>Spencer paced around the room, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He kept going back to the morning at the firing range rather than focusing on the case in front of him. After watching him for a while, it seemed as if Gideon had somehow figured out that he was distracted.<p>

"It doesn't matter that you don't have a gun. Your strength comes from your mind and what we do. We make the victims human again after an unsub has attempted to dehumanize them."

"I know that, but I still feel like everyone is staring at me thinking 'what an idiot, he doesn't even carry a weapon'." Spencer faced his father, his shoulders slumped. "How am I supposed to defend myself?"

"You don't need a gun to kill someone," Gideon replied. He took a quick glance around and pulled his son into a hug. "Spencer, I don't care if you have a cap gun, a 9 mil or an AK-47. You're still my son and I'm very proud of you for being in the FBI and handling everything as well as you do."

"Thanks Dad."

* * *

><p>After several days of investigation, they had figured out that their unsub was a doctor and they had driven over to the local hospital with the detective in charge of the case to see if they were right about their primary suspect. Elle, Morgan, Gideon, and JJ were in the process of interviewing him, but Hotch's mind kept tripping over something that didn't make sense when he put all the pieces together, something that made him think they were talking to the wrong man.<p>

"Come on Reid, let's go check out the ER." Hotch turned with the young doctor following him. "The ER would be the perfect place for the unsub if you're right and it's hero homicide."

Spencer nodded, "And it would allow him to have contact with the victims."

Hotch pulled out his phone but hung up quickly as one of the nurses told him that he couldn't use his phone while inside the hospital. He moved to the woman's side and carefully flashed his badge.

"Do you have any new staff members?"

The lady shook her head. "We haven't hired anyone in at least the last couple of months."

Hotch changed tactics. "Ok, we're looking for someone who is always late, condescending, blames everyone else for his own mistakes, and probably gets a lot of complaints both from other staff members and patients."

The nurse's face paled as she followed the agent's train of thought. "Phillip Dowd."

"Is he working today?" Hotch tried to keep her calm as she nodded. "Okay, look carefully around. Do you see him?"

"No, he's not in the department at the moment."

Hotch turned to Spencer. "Go tell Gideon."

Spencer nodded and started to hurry out of the department. He calmed his paced as the unit chief hissed softly at him. He turned the corner and noticed a staff member moving quickly toward him. Pain exploded across his face as Dowd slammed the butt of his weapon across the young doctor's face. The impact knocked him to the ground as he tasted blood in his mouth and felt it stream from his nose. He lay on his side as he heard Dowd take over the ER and challenge Hotch.

"Get over here with your partner," Dowd snapped. Spencer scrambled painfully to his feet, keeping his hands over his head as he joined Hotch. His head was pounding and he could feel the side of his face swelling. He didn't resist as he was quickly searched and his hands were zip tied in front of him. He tried to stay calm as he listened to Hotch interacting with Dowd; his mind was racing as he tried to figure out how they were going to get out of this without getting shot. He jolted back to reality as Hotch's tone of disdain registered.

"And they sent me in here with an unarmed kid who couldn't shoot his way out of a wet paper bag."

Dowd arrogantly smirked at Spencer, but directed his words to Hotch. "They set you up."

A sinking feeling washed over the young doctor as he listened to the conversation. He realized that Hotch was playing to the man's arrogance, but he couldn't help but wonder how much was acting and how much was truth. Each word coming from the unit chief's mouth was reminding him not only of his failures in the FBI, but the bullying he had endured in high school. Words filtered to his brain and his head came up. He felt horror wash through him as he listened to Hotch request permission from Dowd to allow him to beat the younger agent up. He glanced fearfully at Dowd as the man laughed at him.

"Knock yourself out."

* * *

><p>Hotch spun toward his young agent, praying his plan would work. He could only hope that Spencer had figured out what he wanted him to do and that the doctor's aim was true. "<em>At least the hostages are out of his line of fire,"<em> Hotch thought as he slammed Spencer to the floor. _"I hope to heaven this works."_

Spencer relaxed as he fell, but tried to keep his abdominal muscles tight so that Hotch wouldn't hurt him that badly. He could tell that his boss was pulling his kicks but the contact still hurt. He steeled himself against the next kick, and just managed to get his fingertips on the butt of Hotch's backup gun.

"It's front sight, trigger press and follow through. It's not that hard. A Dalmatian could do it." Hotch shifted his foot, giving him a better grasp. "Let go! Let go!" Hotch yelled for emphasis before stepping away, breathing heavily. Spencer curled in on himself, moaning softly. Even though Hotch hadn't been using his full strength, one of the shots had caught him just under the ribs, causing his side to hurt with every breath. He closed his eyes and adjusted his hold on the weapon.

_"Front sight, trigger press, follow through. Still has to be a head shot because he has to go down immediately,"_ Spencer whispered to himself. He lay still waiting for the right moment to act.

"What's that?" he heard Dowd ask.

Realizing that he was out of time, Spencer rolled over and halfway up as he raised the gun to firing position. An eerie calm swept over him as the room narrowed to a single focus.

BLAM

Screams erupted as Hotch began shouting that the scene was clear. Dowd lay on his back with a single shot through his forehead. Spencer felt numb as the SWAT agents stormed the room, releasing his hands and escorting all of the hostages from the room. He was so removed that he jumped as his father put his arm around his shoulders and gently turned his head, examining his face where Dowd had struck him.

"Let's get you checked out," Gideon said softly.

"I'm ok Dad," Spencer replied shakily.

"Still, you're going to let the paramedics look you over." His dad's tone left no room for an argument.

"Yes sir."

* * *

><p>Hotch sighed as he walked toward the back of the ambulance where Spencer was sitting. He couldn't help but feel guilty for deliberately hurting his young agent. "You okay?" he asked as he came to Spencer's side.<p>

"Yeah," the young doctor said faintly.

"I wasn't trying to hurt you. I just didn't know how else to get the gun to you. You obviously figured out my plan. I hope it wasn't too bad."

"Hotch, I was a twelve year old child prodigy in a DC public high school. You kick like a nine year old girl." Spencer quipped with a smile. "Besides my mom is a doctor. She'll be fussing over me as soon as we get home." He stood up and headed back to where his dad was standing with Elle and JJ. Hotch watched as he passed Morgan and tossed him the whistle, smiling at the black agent's soft chuckle.

* * *

><p>Gideon dropped into the seat across from his son. Now that they were on the plane, he could openly be a father instead of a supervisor. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of the bruising that was spreading across his son's face. "I'm bringing you home with me tonight."<p>

"Dad, I'm fine. I just want to go home and get some sleep."

"And your mother would pitch a fit if she didn't get a chance to look you over, so it's just easier if you come home with me rather than having her show up at your apartment. Besides, this way you can be our babysitter for Thandie tomorrow while Sarah and I get some errands done. Ezra is at a birthday sleepover and we'll pick him up on the way home."

Spencer shrugged, knowing it was useless to argue. His mother would simply drive to his apartment if he didn't go with his dad and truth be told, he wasn't looking forward to an empty house even if he wouldn't admit that fact out loud.

"Dad, I don't really feel anything. I killed a man and I don't feel bad about it."

"It hasn't hit you yet. But it's going to and when it does I want you to remember three things. One, you did what you had to do and two, a lot of people are alive because of what you did."

"What's the third?"

Gideon smiled at him. "I'm proud of you."

* * *

><p>Sarah looked up as the door opened. Gideon had already warned her about her son's injuries but she couldn't stop the gasp that escaped at the vivid bruising covering the young man's left cheek. "Oh my G**!"<p>

"It looks worse than it is Mom," Spencer muttered, embarrassed.

Sarah snorted. "I'll be the judge of that. Go upstairs and take a shower. I'll look you over when you're done." She waited until her son had disappeared up the stairs before turning to her husband. "How bad is it?"

Gideon sighed. "He's in shock. He pulled off a perfect shot and killed Dowd but it hasn't hit him yet. I'm thinking it will hit him sometime in the next few hours. I told him that he could babysit Thandie tomorrow while we get the stuff for that benefit of yours, but now I'm not sure he'll be able to do it."

Sarah nodded in agreement. "I can probably call Whitney in the morning and see if she wants to come over. Thandie loves her, and that way Spencer can sleep in if he needs to." She pulled her husband into a hug. "This one was hard on you too wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Hotch and Spencer were hostages. SWAT was going to blast their way in and the only way for Hotch to get them out safely was to pretend to kick the daylights out of Spencer. He says he's not hurt, but I think he's downplaying how he feels."

"Did he hit his right side?"

"I don't know. I think it was more just a general aim to the body." They turned and headed up the stairs as they spoke. "Hotch said he tried to pull the kicks as much as he could but he was afraid that if he pulled back too much, Dowd would realize it was a ruse and start shooting."

"I bet Hotch feels pretty bad about it too, doesn't he," Sarah said knowingly.

Her husband nodded. "Even after Spencer told him he understood and that he quote 'kicked like a nine year old girl', he was still upset about it." He gave her a quick kiss. "Sounds like Spencer turned the water off. I'm going to get a shower myself."

"Sounds good. I'll be there in a few minutes." Sarah stopped and knocked on her oldest son's door. "Spencer? Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

The reply was soft and she opened the door to see Spencer sitting on the edge of his bed with his hands on his knees and his eyes staring at the floor. Sensing he would talk when he was ready, she gently ran her fingers over his bruised face before carefully feeling for any broken ribs.

"If I could make the shot in the heat of the moment, why couldn't I do it at the range?"

Sarah sat next to him on the bed. "For the same reason a mother can lift a car off of her child. You did what you had to do in the moment you needed to do it."

"It hurt," Spencer all but whispered.

"You mean when Hotch was kicking you?"

"No, when he said that I was a whiney kid who couldn't shoot. And I know I'm an adult and he was just acting and it shouldn't bother me, but it really hurt to hear him say it."

"He reminded you of high school didn't he?" Sarah wrapped an arm around her son as he leaned into her, abruptly reminding her of how young he really was.

"Yeah, is that stupid or what?"

"It's not stupid baby. You had a rough time in high school and that's not something easily forgotten. Hotch hit all of the old memories and even though he wasn't intending to hurt you either physically or emotionally, he did. That's why he apologized to you."

"He didn't need to. He felt guilty for kicking me, but it was just part of the job."

Sarah pressed a kiss to the side of his head. "You know your dad is really, _really _proud of you and so am I."

"Thanks Mom."

"You're welcome sweetie. I love you. Get some sleep ok?"

"I will. Good night Mom."

Sarah squeezed his shoulders again before she left the room.

* * *

><p>Sarah blinked sleepily as she rolled over and glanced at the clock. The red numbers indicated that it was just before three in the morning so she lay still as she tried to process what had awakened her. The sound of retching suddenly broke the silence and she realized what had caught her attention. Instinctively she knew that the events of the day had finally caught up with Spencer and she shook her husband's shoulder. "Jason. Jason, wake up."<p>

"Hmm?" he murmured, half asleep as he rolled over toward her.

"It's hit him. He's throwing up in the bathroom."

Gideon sighed as he rubbed his face. He pulled on his robe and slipped out of the room. Sarah waited a few minutes before following, grabbing a blanket from the closet as she went. Spencer was on his knees by the toilet with his arms wrapped around his middle. Tears ran down his face as he rocked back and forth, even though Gideon was now crouched beside him, rubbing his back and offering what comfort he could. Seeing that he was also shivering, Sarah was thankful for the blanket she had grabbed as she wrapped it around his shoulders, gently brushing her hand over his hair as she withdrew to the bathroom doorway.

"I killed him," Spencer gasped softly through his sobs. "I killed him."

"I know son. It's okay." Gideon held him just like he had when Spencer was a child and had comforted him during his nightmares. He shared a knowing glance with his wife as Spencer began to heave once again from the stress. She nodded and quietly walked away, knowing that her oldest child would be embarrassed to be struggling like this in front of her, even if she was his mother.

A couple hours later, an exhausted Gideon crawled into bed beside his wife. She rolled over and snuggled into his side. "How's Spencer?"

"He's exhausted. He basically cried himself to sleep."

"Will he be alright?"

Gideon pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "With time and a lot of love and support from us, yes he will."

* * *

><p>Sarah held the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she fixed herself a cup of coffee.<p>

"Hello?"

"Hey Whitney. It's Sarah. I hope I didn't wake you up."

"Nope, I'm just putting my laundry together to head to the Laundromat." Whitney's smile came through the phone.

"What if you came here to do your laundry and in the process kept an eye on Thandie for us?" Sarah asked with a grin of her own.

Whitney laughed. "Sounds good to me. I love playing with Thandie."

"Ok, we'll see you soon." Sarah hung up as Gideon's arms encircled her waist. "Whitney is on her way. She'll be here in about an hour."

"Miss Whitney's coming?" Thandie asked as she bounced into the room.

"Yep, she's going to stay with you while your dad and I get some shopping done."

"Yay!" Thandie cheered as she climbed into her seat.

"Shhh," her mother cautioned her. "Spencer is asleep upstairs and I don't want you to wake him up. He wasn't feeling good last night."

"Why Mama?" Thandie asked, her brown eyes wide.

"Because Spencer got hurt by the bad man that he and Daddy caught." Sarah set a bowl of cereal in front of her daughter. "So you need to leave him alone and not wake him up ok? You can play once he gets up."

"Okay." Thandie dug into her breakfast without asking any more questions, which surprised both of her parents. Gideon shrugged at his wife before pouring a bowl of cereal for himself.

A short time later, Whitney closed the door and wrapped her arms around a clearly excited Thandie. "Hi Thandie. What have you been up to this morning?"

"I was watching Blue's Clues and trying to be quiet because Spencer is sleeping," the little girl said with a shrug. "He got hurt so he's still sleeping."

Sarah appeared behind her daughter. "Hi Whitney. I appreciate this and I'm sorry about the short notice."

Whitney laughed. "It's no problem. I really didn't have anything to do today other than laundry and you guys took care of that." She accepted the hug from her coworker. "Out of curiosity, how long do you guys think you'll be gone?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I have no idea. I have a huge list of things that I have to get for this benefit that I somehow got roped into planning and then I need to pick up Ezra so it could be all day. But once Spencer's up, you can leave if you want to."

"I'll see how it goes. I'm not really worried about it. And you got roped into it because you can never Mike Marshall 'no'. " Whitney looked down at Thandie's tugging on her hand. "Just a minute sweetie." She turned back to Sarah. "Thandie said Spencer was hurt. Is everything alright?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes. It's just the case was a little rough on him. He'll be fine." Sarah gathered her purse as Gideon joined her. "Well, we need to get going."

Thandie impatiently pulled on Whitney's hand a second time. "Come _on_. We can start Blue again."

"I'm coming Thandie," Whitney assured the child before waving goodbye to Sarah and Gideon as they left the house.

* * *

><p>Spencer stirred and slowly opened his eyes, groaning softly as he moved. His body ached with the after effects of Hotch's actions as well as the repeated vomiting in the middle of the night. His hand hit something soft and he chuckled at the sight of not one or two but five of his sister's stuffed bears lined up in a protective circle around him. How she had managed to pull that one off without either of their parents catching her, he had no idea. He toyed with the idea of going back to sleep but the call of nature had him climbing painfully to his feet. Once in the bathroom, he turned on the shower and stood for a long time just letting the hot water beat down on him, easing the soreness in his muscles. Finally, he turned off the water and stepped out before dressing and heading down the steps to the kitchen. The house was strangely quiet as he reached the ground floor. He glanced around, wondering where his parents and sister were. He was so distracted that he didn't notice the red head bending over the washer until he almost ran into her.<p>

"Oh, um, hi," he said uncertainly. He shifted self-consciously as he wondered what the girl would think of his injuries.

Whitney grinned at his obvious discomfort. "Hi yourself." She tossed the wet clothes into the dryer before turning to face him fully. "Thandie is in the backyard and your parents went shopping before going to get Ezra. You must be Spencer. I'm Whitney." She ignored the intense bruising in an effort to put him at ease.

Spencer sheepishly smiled back. "Thandie's favorite babysitter. She's mentioned you several times."

"Yes, well don't believe everything you hear. Thandie has a vivid imagination."

"I know." Spencer glanced over at the washer. "You know you don't have to do laundry while you're here right?"

"I do if I want to have clean clothes for work on Monday," Whitney said with another grin. "Your mom rescued me from the Laundromat and as a bonus I get to hang out with this little monkey." She reached around Spencer to tickle Thandie, who promptly burst into a fit of giggles.

"Miss Whitney, I was trying to sneak up on Spence and you ruined it," the little girl whined playfully.

"I'm sorry Thandie," Whitney apologized, giving Spencer a wink. "You want to try again?"

"But it wouldn't be a surprise since he_ knows_ about it." Thandie rolled her eyes at her brother and her babysitter, causing both adults to fight to hide their smiles. "I'm hungry. Can we have lunch now?"

"Sure, baby. What do you want to eat?" Spencer crouched down to his sister's height.

"I don't know. What are you going to make?" she asked, giving him her best puppy dog look.

"I thought you were cooking."

"I can't cook. I'm four. I'm not big enough to reach the stove yet!" Thandie put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side in a pose that had Whitney putting her hand over her mouth in an effort to hold back her laughter.

"You're not? Well I guess I'll just have to come up with something then." Spencer pretended to think hard. "What about a worm and bug sandwich?"

"Ewww. No!" Thandie giggled at her brother.

"What about a mud pie?"

"You can't eat a mud pie! You're being silly Spencer," Thandie informed her brother even as she laughed at his teasing.

"Well shucks, I guess the only thing we can do is go get some sandwiches and have a picnic in the park," Spencer said as he stood up and ruffled his sister's curls. "Is that a good idea?"

"Yeah!" Thandie bounced and clapped her hands. "I want to swing and go fast down the slide."

"Okay, well go get your jacket so we can go." Spencer watched her scurry down the hall and up the stairs before turning to Whitney. "Sorry, I guess you are kind of the boss."

Whitney waved off the apology. "Nah, it's ok. I'm just the babysitter. I'm not as cool as the big brother. You guys have fun ok?"

The doctor took a deep breath. "You're not coming with us?" he asked carefully, hoping he wasn't overstepping his bounds.

The red head raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize I was invited."

"Of course you're invited. Besides, the more the merrier."

Whitney grinned. "In that case, lead on."

* * *

><p>Spencer leaned back against the tree with his dozing sister cuddled in his arms. Whitney was lying on her stomach with her feet in the air, reading a book.<p>

"What are you reading?"

Whitney glanced back with a slightly embarrassed look. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It's written by…"

"C. S. Lewis. I've read it." Spencer grinned at her. "I love to read."

"Yeah well, a lot of people think it's a kid's book but I love it, so I still read it. I'm also a huge Tolkien fan as well as fantasy and science fiction."

"Star Wars or Star Trek?"

"Both, along with Dr. Who and reruns of Firefly when I can find them." Noting the stunned look he was sending her way, she added, "What? I'm a loud and proud geek."

"Where did my mom find you?" Spencer asked, amazed that this young woman shared many of his interests.

"I work with her in the ER. I was at your house for Thanksgiving but you were visiting your other mom, at least according to Thandie."

"Yeah my biological mom lives in Las Vegas."

Whitney flipped around to sit cross legged in front of him. "How did you end up in Virginia from Vegas?" she asked curiously. "Sorry, I'm being nosy," she continued as she caught the shadow that passed over his face.

"It's ok. It's just that I had a turbulent childhood before I was adopted by my dad. Dad and Sarah got married when I was nine and I started calling her mom when I was about seventeen," Spencer finished, surprised at how easy it was to talk to the girl. Usually he had a hard time conversing with anyone, let alone a girl about his own age.

"Wish I could get someone to adopt me," Whitney muttered to herself, then blushed as she realized she had spoken loud enough for Spencer to hear her.

"Why? You didn't have a good childhood either?"

Whitney sighed. "I wouldn't say it was bad. I had everything I could have wanted. It's just my mom comes from old money, so her plan for me was to show a little skin and snare the wealthiest bachelor I could to marry me. But that's not me. I wanted adventure, and to do my own thing, so I took up martial arts at an after school program and when I turned eighteen I moved out and paid my way through nursing school. On the rare occasions that I do go home, my mother harps on me because she just knows I'm going to catch Bubonic plague from one of my patients, and I'm never going to find a husband and live to be an old crazy cat lady. Never mind the fact that I'm allergic to cats."

"And the last major outbreak of Bubonic plague occurred in Las Angeles in the mid 1920's."

Whitney stared at him for a moment before dissolving into gales of laughter. "Okay, Thandie said you were wicked smart, so I'm not even going to ask how you know that."

The young doctor ducked his head. "I'm a genius?" he offered with a shy smile.

Whitney started to reply but was cut off as her phone rang. "Oh I better get this. It's Sarah."

Spencer glanced at his watch. "They're probably wondering where we are. I said we'd be back by three and it's almost five. No wonder Thandie conked out on me."

Whitney winked at him as she spoke with his mother and nodded that his suspicions were right. She talked a moment before hanging up and scrambling to her feet. "Guess we need to head back. Sounds like your dad is making pizza for dinner."

"Pizza?" Thandie asked sleepily. "I love pizza." She sat up and wiggled out of her brother's embrace. "I think Miss Whitney should stay for dinner too."

Spencer winked at Whitney before nudging his sister. "So do I," he whispered in her ear. "You want to ask her?"

Thandie nodded vigorously. "Miss Whitney? Will you stay for dinner?"

Whitney winked back at Spencer. "I'd love to stay for dinner."

"Yippee! Spencer can I run to the car?"

"Yes, pretty girl, you can. But stay in sight when you get there ok?"

Thandie took off, leaving Whitney and Spencer to pack up the picnic basket. "So thanks for inviting me today. It was fun."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you said yes to coming." Spencer paused before his next statement. "I'm also glad you said yes to dinner. I liked hanging out with you."

"I had fun too. We'll have to do it again some time." Whitney grinned impishly at him. "Catch me if you can." She took off running towards the car where Thandie was waiting for them impatiently.

"I accept your challenge," Spencer murmured to himself as he took off after her. This was going to be fun.


End file.
